I'm thinking about taking my sail to a sail shop to have the luff bolt rope looked at. It seems very "fat" and doesn't slide up the mast very well any more. I also just recently tore some of the fabric around the bolt rope near the bottom which makes it even harder to raise the mast.

Can someone give me a ballpark estimate on having that either replaced or repaired? I would assume a replacement would be expensive, but would be interested in hearing approximately what it would cost. My sails are still in decent shape so I think I can get some more life out of them.

I would make sure the luff track and bolt rope are clean and lubed with McLube or spray silicone. Spray the entire track and also spray the entire bolt rope. Personally, I would have a hard time justifying investing any money in work on a 30 year old sail. If you can get it up the mast reasonably well, just deal with it and save the money to put towards a new sail in the future.

I would make sure the luff track and bolt rope are clean and lubed with McLube or spray silicone. Spray the entire track and also spray the entire bolt rope. Personally, I would have a hard time justifying investing any money in work on a 30 year old sail. If you can get it up the mast reasonably well, just deal with it and save the money to put towards a new sail in the future.

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Thanks for the reply. I've tried spraying the hell out of the bolt rope with McLube and it doesn't help. There is a spot on the bolt rope that the cover has worn through and the rope is actually sticking out. I'm going to take it in and see how much the repair would be and if it isn't bad I'll just have it done.

The sail is in pretty good shape for being 30 years old. Still pretty crisp because it wasn't used a whole lot until I got bought it last year. Also I've just started sailing solo so I'm trying to make it easier to setup and go by myself. Last night I battled the main sail for 30 minutes until I finally got it up.

I would just cut away the torn material and try that This has worked for me in small areas I have used trusty needle and thread myself and this has also worked for me I cannot see how your rope could become fatformer hobie admiral gary

I'll update this thread. This week I took the sail over to South Sails and had Mac repair anything he saw on them. He put 3 or 4 patches over the bolt rope where the material had worn away and the rope was showing. It doesn't look pretty because of the excess material but if it works, I'm not complaining. I'll have more to report back with once I try to raise the sail again.

I would just cut away the torn material and try that This has worked for me in small areas I have used trusty needle and thread myself and this has also worked for me I cannot see how your rope could become fatformer hobie admiral gary

In retrospect maybe I should have just bought some sewing materials and taught myself how to do the repairs myself. I like to do stuff like that on my own. I probably get more satisfaction out of working on my boat than I do actually sailing it.

Along the same lines, I've been playing around with splices and I have a couple of ideas for using splices around the H16.

For the future, Morrelli sails will do a 16 luff tape for around 145 bucks when tony does these they put a very good cut on the luff and you are better than original even with shipping at around 200 you would love it. ( this is if your sail is in great shape to start with)